


Like Father, Like Son

by lrceleste



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Adoribull - Freeform, Angst, Family Bonding, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kid Fic, M/M, Parenthood, Postpartum Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 00:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6215884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lrceleste/pseuds/lrceleste
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the Iron Bull’s tendency to bring home strays (after all wasn’t that how he’d created the Chargers) Dorian had always half expected to arrive at the villa for one of their retreats and find the Bull with a stray of their own. Dorian had never imagined that he would be the reason they acquired a new addition, or that it would be so much harder than he could ever have anticipated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Father, Like Son

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write a kid fic and this has been sat in my folder unfinished for a while... So here we go. I've tagged as postpartum depression because that's really the closest thing I could find to what occurs, so warning for that, but it's happy in the end.
> 
> Also, really over done naming. You already know what the kid is gonna be called...

With the Iron Bull’s tendency to bring home strays (after all wasn’t that how he’d created the Chargers) Dorian had always half expected to arrive at the villa for one of their retreats and find the Bull with a stray of their own. He didn’t know what to expect, a dog, cat, fennec, baby dragon, an actual _child._ But five years into their relationship (because there was no way he could call it anything else after so long) there had been no collection of strays, and the Bull had not appeared with a baby something or other in his arms.

In a sense Dorian was glad, it meant they didn’t have to worry about something when Bull was on his missions and Dorian was in the Magisterium, but at the same time he knew he wasn’t getting younger, the Lucerni were campaigning in the Magisterium and he was not needed quite so often, he had plenty of time to visit the villa. Having someone or something there would give him an excuse to stay more often.

Bull had been visiting the villa more and more frequently of course, now that his body was getting slower as the years went by, and younger Chargers joined the group. But he still wasn’t there all of the time, wasn’t a solid reason for Dorian to stay. They’d talked about it a long time ago how they were both amenable to the little pitter patter of something, but nothing had come of it.

Dorian had never imagined that he would be the reason they acquired a new addition, enough so that he might even refer to them as a family. It was on the Tevinter border less than ten miles from the villa that he discovered them, a group of bodies, one with horns that stuck straight out, and it was for that reason that he stopped; he imagined that if he hadn’t seen those horns he’d have kept on going and only muttered a quick prayer. The panic subsided as he drew closer, as he saw the clothing and the hair on the body, and knew there was no way it could be his Bull.  Long white hair was pulled back in a braid, a cloak pulled over their shoulders.

He stepped around the body to get a better look at the Qunari, the rest of the bodies surrounding it human or elven, obviously this woman (he realised upon inspection) must have been Vashoth at the very least, there were too few Qunaris in the south who would have been welcome amongst a bunch of mercenaries or travellers.

And then her cloak moved, and Dorian had a hand gripping his staff in seconds, as if the dried pool of blood and arrow in her neck were not enough of an indicator the she wouldn’t be returning to attack him. Still, one hand gripping his staff, he knelt beside the body and pulled away the cloak, revealing a wriggling bundle, and… Oh maker. Dorian wasn’t a fool, he didn’t need to pull away the blankets to know, a wriggling swaddle held tight in a dead woman’s arms could only be one thing.

He sat for a moment, a hand running over his face. Of course they’d spoken about it, but it had been years… He looked down at the little bundle again, beginning to make soft noises of protest as it pushed against its blankets. He couldn’t leave it, of that he was sure.

Carefully, hands shaking slightly, he took the bundle in his arms, pushing the blankets away to see the little face they concealed. The child was sleeping; a blessing after what had happened around it, and he wondered how long the poor thing had been lying there; long enough that it didn’t hold the characteristic chubbiness of a babe in its cheeks. The child also held more colour, even in its evident sickness, than most Qunaris, and Dorian had to contemplate what that meant for the child, perhaps they weren’t even wholly Qunari.

That didn’t matter though, not at the moment, all that mattered was that the child was helpless and alone, and Dorian couldn’t leave it, he simply couldn’t. Finding a family for a Qunari would be a difficult task, but surely it would be manageable. He could only hold the child in one arm, and his horse’s reins in the other as they trotted slowly towards the villa. The journey would likely take him an extra hour at the very least, but with the way the poor thing occasionally began squirming he feared dropping it if he went any quicker. He knew he should have used his crystal to contact Bull and warn him, but that required using a hand he didn’t have available.

When he arrived at the villa there was already a horse settled in the stable, and Lesa the stable hand took his own from him without his eyes lingering on the bundle for too long, without a question but ‘how was the ride Magister Pavus.’ He’d have to give the boy a raise.

Bull was at the door, he’d evidently seen or heard Dorian’s arrive, Dorian assumed heard when Bull greeted him with a smile, he was too observant to not notice the bundle in Dorian’s arms had he been watching his arrival, and it was evident he hadn’t noticed. Not when he continued to beam, stepping forward to no doubt pull Dorian into a bone crushing hold, until he saw the swaddle and his smile dropped away.

“Kadan? I think you forgot to mention something.” Bull joked, but Dorian could see that concern.

“I found them whilst riding here, less than a day from the Tevinter border, wrapped in the arms of a dead Qunari.”

“Qunari?”

“A Vashoth mercenary most likely, if the other bodies were anything to go by. They all looked shockingly like your Chargers, elves and humans, even a dwarf.”

“Can I look?” Bull asked, slowly holding out his arms, and until that point Dorian had not realised how he was cradling the child close to him, gripping onto them for dear life, it seemed.

“Of course.” Dorian answered and slowly he placed the child in Bull’s arms, the thing that had felt so heavy in his arms after carrying for so long, looked positively tiny in Bull’s. “They’ve slept since I found them.”

“Have you checked them over?” Bull asked ever the practical one. When Dorian shook his head they both wandered through to the dining room where Bull carefully laid the child on the table, and unravelled the blankets it was bundled in. Well the child was a boy, and Dorian wondered how he hadn’t noticed the smell until the blanket and nappy was removed, evidently the poor thing hadn’t been changed in some time.

He had no knowledge of tiny bodies, he’d _never_ try to raise one and had never seen the need to learn, so as Bull looked over the child Dorian simply watched, unsure of what assistance he could actually offer.

“Well, he’s a little bumped and bruised, in need of a good feed and a change but he should be fine, nothing obviously wrong that some good feeding won’t fix.”

“How old is he?” Dorian would probably have pegged the child at one, but he knew nothing of the sizes of Qunari children, only that knowing their elder counterparts that was most likely an overestimate.

“Not too sure, anywhere from 8 months to a year. If he was Qunari I could tell you.”

“He’s not Qunari?” Dorian asked in confusion, removing the blankets had revealed subtle bumps on the child’s head, evidently a place holder for the horns that were to come, but he had to admit the thought had come to him when he first saw the child.

“Not completely, there are little things that are wrong, his ears are too rounded, and he’s too soft. And that nose, that’s a Tevinter nose.”

“Tevinter?” Dorian asked, not because he didn’t agree, it was undoubtedly aquiline, and with the brown-grey skin in addition there was undoubtedly something to be considered, he simply wanted to know where Bull was leading the thought.

“He probably wasn’t planned.” Nothing more needed to be said; they both understood what happened in Tevinter. “I’ll get him cleaned up; you go and find anything that resembles mush that the kid can eat. We’re going to need diapers and a crib and shit.”

“We’ll have to go to town, I’m sure we can last until the morning,” Dorian stated, and it wasn’t until he’d answered that he realised, there wasn’t really much need to have a crib made for a child they would be handing over to a family or an orphanage. Bull had simply assumed he was to be _theirs._ In truth, Dorian wasn’t inclined to disagree.

-

There was screaming. Dorian had been stood in the kitchen mashing carrots and potato into a fine paste. When the noise first broke out it was only magic that saved his hard work from painting the kitchen floor. Mush in hand he ran through to Bull, the Qunari holding the child against his shoulder, patting his back reassuringly.

“His lungs work fine.” Bull laughed over the wailing and Dorian could only sigh in relief.

There was a lot of screaming that night, and Dorian had to guiltily admit that on more than one occasion it had not only been the child’s screams. He would also sadly admit that none of them were of a sexual nature.

The night had been restless at the very least; it seemed that after the child’s long nap it was unwilling to sleep in the night. So after the first night, the one where under normal circumstances they would have been left tired and achy from a night of sex, they were left feeling the same, only without the afterglow to keep them smiling.

Bull went into town in the early afternoon to find some of the things they needed since they’d spent the morning trying to gain some semblance of sleep. Dorian sat on one of the chairs in the living room and watched as a _child_ sat on their rug and stuffed his own fist in his mouth, drool dribbling down his wrist. When Dorian moved closer the child shuffled away, face full of concern and confusion.

What in the Makers name had he been thinking? He should have corrected Bull, should have informed him that when he’d taken the child his main intention had never been to become a _father._ He did tell Bull when he returned, that he’d never expected to keep the child that was wailing in his arms, and just like that Bull was thinking of where the child could go, where he’d be safe.

“What do you want?” Dorian asked.

“Whatever’s good for you Kadan,” Bull had replied as he’d rubbed a hand along Dorian’s thigh. Bull had taken the child from Dorian and within seconds the crying stopped.

They had kept him for a couple days more, and Dorian had never felt so jealous. He had never been one for jealousy, not when it came to lovers, but seeing Bull quiet the boy so quickly when even the prospect of being held by Dorian created a new bout of wailing, it made his blood burn. Logically of course it was a case of familiarity, the child’s mother had similar horns, the grey skin, and the smell of horn balm immediately calmed the child. Dorian on the other hand most likely appeared to the child as a complete stranger, and in honesty, that was truth. The knowledge still didn’t help to quell his bitterness.

With no crib available, the child had taken to sleeping on the Bull’s chest, with his horns there was no fear of Bull rolling over him in the night. It had been just under a week of sleepless nights, longer than Dorian had planned to keep the child.

“Kadan,” Bull started, hand idly rubbing in circles on the child’s back. “You’ve always said you want to know what _I_ want…”

“Of course amatus,” Dorian replied, even when he felt a drop in the pit of his stomach, even when he was certain of what was to come.

“I think the best place for the kid is here. You’ve said about his mother and I know there’s no family under the Qun, but honestly the kid could be my nephew or some shit, the horns aren’t exactly common.” Dorian had considered that possibility of course, he just hadn’t wanted to dwell on it. “I just think that finding him a family that knows what a Qunari needs, it won’t be easy, and it seems a waste when he could find one here. It’s your call though.”

It was selfish, the way Dorian rolled away and said he didn’t think so, the way he couldn’t bear to look Bull in the eye as he said it, couldn’t bear to see the look on his face. It was selfish that the only reasons he could conjure in his defence were a desire for sleep and the fact that the child didn’t seem to like him. He didn’t tell the Bull his reasons; he didn’t have to, because it felt like a stab in the heart that Bull accepted his word.

They kept him a little longer, this child that they hadn’t even bothered to name. Bull did almost everything, fed him and changed him, said that they should hold onto him a little longer, that the kid only kicked up a fuss when Dorian tried to hold him because they hadn’t had enough time to warm to one another.

Things changed suddenly, rapidly over a couple weeks more of lack of sleep and rejection. Bull was attached, Dorian knew it; he’d smile at the child as it ground down a piece of banana with a slightly chubbier fist. Bull gave the child a smile that Dorian could only remember Bull giving to him, and on the odd occasion, his chargers. Dorian had saved the child and yet still it felt like he meant nothing. In truth he hated it.

Bull was upstairs; he was going to head into town to grab them some more supplies, even though Dorian knew he would be forced to return to Minrathous soon. There had been no more mention of finding a home for the child and Dorian planned to mention it before Bull left for the town. He’d have done it himself but a Magister walking the streets asking about orphanages would generate rumours he couldn’t afford. The boy was sat on the rug again, dressed only in a diaper and one of Dorian’s soft undershirts that positively drowned him, no doubt Bull would be taking him into town. If everything went to plan perhaps the child wouldn’t be returning. He should at the very least try to say goodbye.

With a sigh Dorian sat on the rug and held out his arms, with big brown eyes the child blinked at him and turned away, grabbing the washcloth it had been attached to for at least 3 days and preferring its company to Dorian’s. Dorian had already accepted the truth of the matter, closing his eyes tightly to push back the tears that had been threatening for the last weeks, he was a hopeless father, he’d always imagined he would be, like father like son the saying goes, and so what hope did this _tiny person_ have with Dorian as their care giver.

When he felt a tiny hand on his calf his eyes flew open, and he watched the tiny thing press forward, swinging a leg up and climbing into his lap unsteadily. When he was lying comfortably across Dorian’s legs he held up the little towel, putting three fingers in his mouth and looking up at Dorian expectantly.

Slowly he took the towel, afraid of another outburst, “Uh, thank you?”

When the child simply looked up at Dorian, chewing on his own fingers, Dorian placed the flannel gently over the boy’s face, he’d seen Bull do it before, and after a moment he pulled it away and received a small smile. He did it again, this time receiving a quiet chuckle, and apparently that was precisely what tipped Dorian over the edge, the tears unstoppable.

Ever so carefully he picked up the boy, holding him against his chest and he received no protest no crying, even as _he_ cried. In fact the boy reached out and gripped one side of his moustache, tugging on it curiously, and Dorian could only laugh. No, he wasn’t his father, and he could prove that, he still had time to make it right.

“Kadan?”

Dorian turned quickly, having not heard Bull’s arrival, and then the peace was broken, the child shrieked as his newest toy was pulled away.

“Shh, it’s alright,” Dorian whispered, watching as the boy carefully reached for his moustache again as the tears slowly subsided, for the child, not Dorian.

Bull placed a gentle hand on Dorian’s shoulder as he said, “you see, imekari just needed some time. He’d only just lost his mother; he wasn’t ready for some strange human to step in and try to take her place.”

“Imekari?”

“’Child’ in Qunlat, don’t worry I haven’t named him, didn’t want to do it when nothing was set in stone.” When the child, imekari, started to struggle and whine, Dorian handed him off to Bull, and he settled quickly.

“Bull,” Dorian began, but he didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

“I’m going to take him into town, give you some time to yourself. Have a nice bath or something. Is there anything you want me to do whilst I’m there?”

Dorian knew what that meant. Not ‘anything I should get’, but ‘anything I should do’, it was Dorian’s chance to tell him enough was enough. But he looked at the child, reaching up to grab Bull’s horns, and if not this child then who? They’d never find another one so perfect, a Qunari with a dark tuft of hair growing between the buds of horns, and a nose that could almost be mistaken for Dorian’s. It was evident he wasn’t there through blood, but there were little things he could help but notice. And any other child would have the same reaction to losing their family, from being thrown into a new one with two strange men they’d never met. If it had been the other way, if the child had warmed to him and not Bull he knew without a doubt that Bull would have tried his damnedest to bond with the child, to make Dorian happy. ‘Whatever you want Kadan.’

He stood; still clutching the washcloth he’d been given and placed it in the child’s little grabby hands. This time he looked Bull in the eye as he said, “He needs a crib, and some actual toys.”

Bull’s face remained level, emotionless as he asked, “Are you sure?”

“He needs someone to look after him Bull… I suppose we’d do.” Bull grinned at that, the smile that Dorian had been expecting.

“Thank you, Kadan.” Bull sighed as he pressed his lips to Dorian’s forehead.

“Yes, yes, now go to town before I change my mind you insufferable man.”

-

Things changed almost as soon as Bull returned, there was a crib being made, though it would take a few days, at least imekari was now clothed, and clutching the cloth in one hand and a tiny wooden horse in the other. A parcel arrived at the villa the next day, and imekari was also gifted with a suspiciously familiar plush nug with wings. Bull admitted to telling Krem, even if they had decided they couldn’t keep imekari he wanted to give him something.

When it came to feeding Bull steered Dorian towards the dining room and placed him in a seat next to imekari, pressing a bowl of mush into his hands.

“He didn’t like it when I tried to feed him,” Dorian argued.

“He barely knew you. Now give him a spoonful.”

“He looks old enough to feed himself.”

“Yeah, with a shit ton of mess. Now feed him.” Bull hovered as Dorian scooped up a small spoonful of brown paste and held towards imekari’s mouth. “Coax him a little.”

Dorian did as instructed and waved the spoon a little, he could see imekari’s eyes flicking to Bull, to the food, to Dorian for only a moment, before he opened his little mouth and took the food.

“Tell him he did well.” Bull instructed.

“Good boy?”

“Say it like you mean it, praise him.”

“Bull, eating is a necessary part of life, why am I praising him?” Dorian asked in irritation, he didn’t want to look a fool cooing over a child, even if his audience consisted of his lover and a toddler.

“The Tamassrans used to do this stuff all the time on Seheron, when one of them went Tal-Vashoth, or one died in the crossfire another Tamassran would have to take charge of their kids, it was the little ones that found it hardest, the ones who had no grasp of the Qun, but knew that the person who cared for them was gone and a stranger was in charge of them now.

“It’s the same principle; I’ve already started to set him up with a routine, he’s getting used to it, now you just need to step in and do some things. And I know this is all still new, but if this is going to be permanent you need to think about what he’s going to call you.”

“What are you?”

“I was thinking Tama, that’s what I grew up with; I was always kind of fond of the idea.”

Dorian could only smile as his heart swelled, but slowly it faded. “You believe he’ll start to like me?”

Bull smiled reassuringly and nodded to imekari who was making soft noises as he lent forward with his mouth open. Dorian gave him another spoonful and smiled when Imekari ate it without protest. “Yeah, he’s gonna love you.”

“Bull?”

“Yeah.”

“We also need to decide what we’re going to call him; we can’t call him ‘child’ forever.”

“I’ve got a couple of ideas; I’ll run them by you later.”

Dorian fed him the rest of the bowl, with only a few protests and when Bull told him to he praised imekari for being good, for letting Dorian feed him. Bull coached him through a lot of things and Dorian realised that perhaps the caution had not only been imekari’s.

Eventually things were going well, there were some hiccups of course, but for the large part imekari was beginning to accept Dorian’s position as ‘papa’ or so it seemed. There was a week of relative peace considering they were still caring for a child. Bull ventured into town to collect the crib and other supplies so Dorian had taken the time to write to Mae and inform her of the development nd explain his prolonged absence, imekari sat on a blanket in the centre of Dorian’s study, the nug clutched tightly, surrounded by toys and perfectly in view.

That was why it came as such a surprise when Dorian looked up from the letter and saw the blanket void of child.

“Sweetheart?” There was no sound, and Dorian stood from his desk, frantically looking around the room, but the door was ajar, wide enough for a tiny Qunari to squeeze through. “Kaffas.”

He’d been through a lot of mishaps in his life, but he could say without a doubt that it was for sure the worst hour of his life. It was Lesa who found him, and Dorian didn’t bother to ask how, he simply pulled imekari against his chest, hands shaking, and thanked the stable boy profusely, a raise was most certainly required.

When Bull returned Dorian had barely managed to finish the letter, after the scare he’d placed imekari and the nug in his lap and hadn’t let him leave despite his protests and the inconvenience a small child in his lap caused.

It wasn’t the first issue, the moment Bull left a room imekari would do whatever he could to act out, to get away from Dorian and he had to wonder what he’d done so wrong, he’d thought they were getting somewhere, and now it seemed like they were firmly back to square one.

“Does he ever misbehave for you?” Dorian asked, as they settled into bed. The crib was in the corner but imekari still slept in bed with them, he’d stopped sleeping on Bull and started sleeping between them. Dorian yearned for a night alone with Bull.

“Sure, he’s a kid.”

“How often?” Bull raised his brow and it was all Dorian needed to prompt him. “As soon as you leave he starts misbehaving and turns into damn near an angel when you return. He looks at me as he does it; he met my eyes and dropped his food on the floor this morning.”

“Huh. Don’t worry, he’s testing you.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, he’s testing you, making sure you mean it, did it to me a couple of weeks ago but he snapped out of it quickly. How do you react?” Bull asked.

“Well, he ran away the other day, took me an hour to find him. When I did I made him sit on my knee until you came back, he was constantly wriggling.”

“Don’t worry,” Bull encouraged as if Dorian hadn’t just confessed to losing their child for an entire hour. “You’re doing great.”

-

As quickly as when imekari laid his chubby little hand on Dorian’s calf, things suddenly changed again, as if the child had woken up that very morning and decided he was just going to accept what was happening. As if Dorian had passed the test overnight.

Dorian received a reply from Mae that was filled with nothing but congratulations, and when he picked up imekari in the morning there was no struggle, no reaching for Bull, he simply put a tiny hand on Dorian’s wrist until Dorian placed him in the special chair Bull had brought with the crib. He ate his breakfast without complaint, and after Dorian had told him how brilliant he was, and how good he was being he looked Dorian dead in the eyes and muttered, “majus.”

Dorian was frozen for a moment, he’d never used Tevene in front of him, both he and Bull had used common, and suspected after staying quiet for so long that imekari couldn’t speak yet. It must have just been a mispronunciation of common, surely…

“I-… Yes, magic.”

“Majus!”

“Magus?”

“Majus!” He cried again, slamming tiny hands on the table.

Tentatively Dorian held out his palm, casting a small mage light, completely harmless, and imekari clapped and giggled, reaching out to the magic. Dorian had never used magic in front of him before, he’d always been worried that it would break the already tentative relationship.

But the night before, Imekari had been sleeping, and Dorian had taken a moment to use his magic and massage Bull’s knee, he hadn’t had a chance since they’d arrived, it merely showcased how starved for touch they both were. But every time imekari moved in his sleep they couldn’t bear to leave him alone, and they couldn’t exactly go ahead with a child sleeping on their bed. Had he seen?

“What’s going on down here?” Bull asked as he wandered into the room, the light in Dorian’s hand going out. “Someone seems excited.”

“Bull, did you know he can talk?!” The expression on Bull’s face made it obvious that he was unaware. So Dorian coaxed, “Come on, say it for Tama.”

But imekari remained silent, looking between them, confused by their sudden excitement, so Dorian conjured the light again and watched as imekari giggled and squealed, “majus!”

“Ah shit!” Bull cried fondly, hoisting imekari into his arms and grinning. “What have you been teaching him?”

“ _I_ haven’t, he came out with that on his own.”

“All this time we thought we had imekari, but you’re not. You’re a little Vint like your papa.”

“You don’t suppose he’s going to be a mage?” Dorian asked, taking one of the child’s hands.

“Dunno, but he’s definitely seen magic before… So Dorian, you think we’re settled down enough to think about the whole naming thing…”

“Oh, Maker, I haven’t even considered it.”

“Well he’s been with us nearly a month, I think it’s about time he got a name. I’ve got an idea, but it’s your decision. You can say no.”

“Well we have to sooner or later. You’re building this up an awful lot though Bull, what kind of horrific name do you plan to propose?”

“Well, I know there’s a big thing in Tevinter about naming kids after someone,” Bull started cautiously.

“If you so much as mention my father you’ll be sleeping on the sofa for a month, gone or not, no child of mine will be his legacy.”

“Actually I was thinking about Felix.”

“You-… I-…”

“Hey, don’t worry; you can take as much time as you need to think it over.” Bull ensured, but Dorian didn’t need time, he just needed his mind to work.

“No- I mean, well yes, I like it.”

Bull smiled softly, “What about you kid?”

Their child, _Felix_ , smiled and exclaimed, “Majus!”

“I think that might be a yes,” Bull laughed. “Felix Pavus.”

“Only Pavus?” Dorian joked.

“Yeah, I wanted to run another idea past you, I don’t really have a last name, Qunaris don’t bother with them, so I was thinking about taking yours, maybe having a ceremony for it?” Bull grinned.

“You mean like a wedding?” Dorian laughed, because he wasn’t sure if his heart could take anymore.

“Yeah, exactly like a wedding.”

“Yes. I think I’d like that.” Dorian answered, because it all sounded like an awfully good reason to stay more often. Maybe forever.


End file.
